Today is International Waffle Day. Waffles are a simple treat made from putting batter in a hot press called a waffle iron. Historically, it's believed waffles started off as wafers with a bit more volume, before either the Belgians or French (it's an old debate I'm not taking a side on) really made it into its own thing.
One surprising use of the waffle iron was in shoe design. In the 1970s, a track coach named Bill Bowerman was trying to design a new kind of running shoe for his runners. He ended up trying out putting rubber in a waffle iron and that worked out pretty well. His shoe company is now known as Nike and they are still popular to this day, so clearly the waffle shoes worked out.
I'm surprised you didn't bring up Parry Gripp